The Gloucester Museum of History has plans for its second floor—an overview of Gloucester County.
The vast job of researching what is already on hand has been underway for some time. Sidney Ripley is a Museum Specialist who grew up in Gloucester and loves working with the museum. She enjoys doing research and adds, “I especially love to research old records.”
Sidney recently discovered a gem when going through the military section. She found two diaries written by Charles A. Beyer, MM1c 1918-1920, written during the time he served in the Navy aboard a World War I minelayer. Beyer enlisted in the Navy in Richmond on June 9, 1918. He was sent to Norfolk to a training station and his next step was Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where he caught his first ship.
He was a most meticulous writer with a fabulous handwriting, and his diary entries are written in both ink and pencil. The date, time, hour and minutes are included with many of his wartime experiences and port stops. He even tells about being diagnosed with tuberculosis.
When reading the diaries one feels like you are traveling with him. Such stories as “On March 25th 1920 at 8:30 a.m. — We got underway for the Hawaiian Islands (Honolulu) we had a skipper who had been on submarines but did not know much about destroyers, next the 26th we got orders in the engine room hatches battered down that we were running into a storm, we had some wind and a little rain but don’t think we rolled over 35 degrees at any time and that is not much for a destroyer.”
In the middle of one diary there are several pages of Hawaiian recipes with no notations as to why or where he was when they were entered. Although his diary tells us he was in Honolulu, there is no mention of recipes. Note Sidney’s comments on the attached recipes. There are a couple of possibilities.
Mr. Beyer was two years old when his family moved from Germany to the United States. There are a few notes in the diaries indicating he lived in Richmond. “In case of accident notify my sister Mrs. H. S. Eddins, Richmond VA.”
Charles Beyer left the Navy in 1921 and married Salome Ambrose Hall in 1934 at Providence Baptist Church, Gloucester. They lived in Wicomico until his death. Born in 1886, he died in 1937 of TB.
Beyer’s stepdaughter Annie Burks donated the diaries to the museum about 10 years ago.
Sidney Ripley typed up the recipes with notes.
HAWAIIAN FRITTERS
(NOTE: “found very similar recipe in 1950s Crisco recipe ad, but this was after his death, perhaps from an earlier Crisco recipe from a cookbook? The first Crisco cookbook was published in 1913. I also found in my research that Crisco did run a lot of ads during World War I with recipes to conserve materials during wartime by using Crisco instead of fat.”)
1 cup flour
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ cup pineapple juice
1 cup bananas cut in small cubes
¾ cup crushed pineapple
1 Tbs. lemon juice
1 egg (beaten)
2 tsp. melted Crisco
Crisco for frying
Mix and sift dry ingredients
Add pineapple juice, lemon juice
Beat eggs
Crisco mix well stir in bananas + pineapple
Drop tablespoons in deep hot Crisco 360 + 375
Brown in crib of fryer 3 minutes
Drain on paper
Dust with powdered sugar
Serve as dessert.
CHOCOLATE BAR CAKE
½ cup shortening
1½ cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
½ cup cocoa
1 tsp. baking pwd
½ tsp. salt
1 cup sour milk
1/3 cup hot water
The icing — chocolate fudge
AFFINITY PIE
(“I did also find this exact recipe in a Crisco advertisement from 1934, perhaps written then in old notebook? Unless from an earlier recipe book.”)
¾ cup sugar
2 Tbs. of flour
2 Tbs. cornstarch
¼ tsp. salt
2 eggs yolk beaten
2 cups scalded milk
Grated rind ½ lemon
2 bananas sliced
Mix sugar flour cornstarch + salt
Add eggs yolks + milk
Cook stir over low heat double boiler until thick + smooth
Add lemon rind
Remove from heat
Cover bottom with sliced bananas
Pour in cream filling
Cover top
Lemon Meringue (NOTE- for top of pie)
Beat 2 eggs white stiff
Add 4 tablespoons sugar + ½ teaspoon lemon juice
Place pie in slow oven
ORANGE BLOSSOM PIE
Orange pastry
1½ cup flour
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
Grated rind ½ orange
½ cup Crisco
3 tablespoons orange juice
Filling
2 cup milk
½ cup instant tapioca
½ cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
Grated rind ½ orange
2 eggs separated
½ cup shredded coconut
Heated milk in double boiler
Mix tapioca sugar + salt
Stir into milk
Cook until mixture begins to thicken
Add orange rind
Cook 15 minutes + stir to prevent lumping
Add eggs yolk + cook 1 minute
Cool
Pour in beaten egg white
Pour in shell
Sprinkle top with coconut
Brown lightly
